Player-piano.



s. L, DICKINSON.

PLAYER PIANO.

APPLIOATIOI IILED 213.27, 1909.

972,346. Patented 0ct.11,1910.

INVENTOR UIIITIIIIITIKHIIILIIHJL] ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL L. DICKINSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PLAYER-PIANO.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. DICKIN- sox, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Player-Pianos, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to player-pianos and its object is to effectcertain improvements in the construction of such instruments whereby theseveral devices thereof are more compactly arranged, greater strength ofconstruction is obtained and a saving in the cost of manufactureeffected.

The invention relates to playenpianos of the type having the automaticoperating mechanism, tracker-board and music-roll mounted above thekey-board, all in front of the wires.

One feature of the invention resides in the method of mounting theautomatic actuating mechanism including the pneumatics and thevalve-mechanisms therefor. In pianos as now commonly constructed, thepiano-action is mounted on a plurality of brackets, spaced apart atintervals along the length of the keyboard and these brackets aremounted upon the frame-work of the piano. In accordance with theinvention, the pneumatics and the valve-mechanisms for playing the pianoautomatically are mounted upon the same brackets which carry thepiano-action, either by providing extensions on the brackets for thepiano-action adapted to carry the automatic mechanism or by theprovision of auxiliary brackets secured to the brackets for thepiano-action and carrying the automatic mechanism.

Another feature of the invention resides in the construction andarrangement of the pneumatics and the valve-mechanisms there for.Because of the provision of the brackets for supporting the piano-actionat points intermediate of the ends of the piano-action, it is necessaryto provide spaces between the striking mechanisms operated by two adjacent keys at the points where the brackets are inserted and inaccordance with the invention the pneumatics are so arranged that spacesare provided between pairs of adjacent pne-umatics where these breaksfor the brackets occur. The valve-mechanisms for controlling the actionof the pneumatics, however, are not correspondingly arranged but on thecontrary are spaced apart at regular intervals throughout the entirekey- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 27, 1909.

Patented Oct. 11, 1910.

Serial No. 480,330.

board, and these valve-mechanisms are connected to their respectivepneumatics by tubes which are inclined, as may be necessary, in order toeffect the connection between each valve-mechanism and its properpneumatic. One advantage of this construction is, that the maximum spaceis allowed for each valve-mechanism. A more important advantage,however, is that this construction enables me to make up thevalvemechanisms in the form of bars of a length at least as long as thewidth of the piano of greatest width in which they may be used and touse such a bar or such portion thereof as may be necessary in any piano,irrespective of the positions of the breaks in that piano. It is commonto make a plurality of these valve-mechanisms in a single structure andit will be seen that in accordance with the invention I may make up acomplete set of valve-mechanisms corresponding to all of the keys of apiano and that this set of valve-mechanisms may be employed in any pianoirrespective of the location of the space for the brackets therein.

I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of apiano and Fig. 2 is a front view of a port-ion of the mechanism thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates the framework of a piano, 2the casing thereof, 3 the strings mounted upon the plate 4, 5 thekeyboard and 5 the keybed.

6 indicates one of a plurality, preferably four, brackets which aresecured to theframework of the piano by means of ballbolts projectingupwardly from the keybed 5 and entering cavities in the brackets andposts 7 the forward ends of which pass through openings in the bracketsand are threaded to receive screws 8. The pianoaction is mounted uponthese brackets and may be of the usual or any suitable construction. Inthe drawings I have shown it as consisting of an abstract 9 operated bya key, a wippen 1O pivotally mounted upon the action-rail 11 andoperated by the abstract 9 and a hammer 12 also pivotally mounted uponthe action-rail 11 and operated by the wippen 10 by means'of a jack 13.A backcheck 14 is mounted upon the wippen 10 in the usual manner andcoacts with a catch 15 carried by the hammer 12. hen the hammer is inthe retracted position, as shown in Fig. 1, it rests against ahammer-rail 16 mounted upon the brackets 6.

The automatic actuating mechanism for the hammers 12 is mounted upon thebrackets 6 and for this purpose the brackets may be extended so as toprovide surfaces thereon upon which the automatic mechanism may besecured, or auxiliary brackets may be rovided secured to the brackets 6.I have ere shown the latter of these two constructions. Auxiliarybrackets are shown at 17, one secured to each of the brackets 6. Forthis purpose bracket- 6 may be provided with a projection 18 at itslower end adapted to enter a depression in the lower end of theauxiliary bracket 17, and the upper end of the bracket 17 has an openingtherein to receive a screw 18, adapted to enter the bracket 6 to holdthe auxiliary bracket 17 thereto. Each of the brackets 17 is providedwith a forwardly extending arm 19 and upon these arms are secured theseveral pneumatics 20, one for each hammer of the piano. The movable armof each pneumatic is provided with a finger 21 extending under aprojection 22 upon the corresponding abstract 9. Each of the brackets 17is also provided with a forwardly extending arm 23 and upon these armsare mounted the valvemechanisms 24:, each arranged to control the supplyof air to its corresponding pneumatic 20. It will be seen that by thisconstruction the automatic actuating mechanism of the piano includingthe pneumatics and the valve-mechanisms, is mounted within the pianoupon the brackets which support the piano-action and I have found inpractice that this method of mounting the automatic mechanism of aplayer-piano is much superior to those heretofore employed.

The controlling devices for the valvemechanisms 24: are shown asconsisting of the usual tracker-board 25 connected by tubes 26 to theseveral valve-mechanisms and a music-sheet 27 carried by suitable rollsmounted within a frame above the keyboard and immediately in rear of thefront-board of the casing of the piano. Any suitable mechanism may beemployed for rotating these rolls so as to cause the music-sheet totravel over the tracker-board 25.

The abstracts 9 and the parts connected thereto in a piano are notarranged at regular intervals throughout the length of the piano for thereason that spaces must be provided at certain points for the brackets6, and because of the connection between the pneumatics 20 and theabstracts 9, the pneumatics must be arranged in a manner correspondingto the arrangement of the abstracts 9, so that spaces are providedbetween adjacent pneumatics opposite the brackets 6. The pneumatics 20are therefore so mounted upon the arms 19 of the brackets 17 that eachis opposite its corresponding abstract, as shown in Fig. The valve:mechanisms 24 for the pneumatics need not; however, be so mounted, asthe connections between the valve-mechanisms and the pneu-- matics maybe arranged to compensate for the difference in the positions of eachvalvemechanism and its corresponding pneumatic. The valve-mechanisms maytherefore be spaced apart at regular intervals through out the length ofthe piano as shown in Fig. 2. Each valve-mechanism 241 is connected withits respective pneumatic 20 by means of a tube 28, and by reference toFig. 2 it will be seen that these tubes are inclined to the extent madenecessary by the difierence in the position of each valve-mechanism withreference to the position of its corresponding pneumatic so as to effectthe pro-per connection. The valve-mechanisms here shown are of the usualconstruction consisting of a vacuum-box 29 and a movable valve-member 30adapted to reciprocate under the control of the tracker-board andmusic-sheet in order to effect the necessary connections for exhaustingair from or admitting air to the corresponding pneumatic 20.

The construction of the automatic mechanism for a piano above describedpermits of making up in a single structure the entire set ofvalve-mechanisms for a piano and this set of valve-mechanisms may beemployed in any piano irrespective of the positions therein where thespaces for the brackets 6 occur. Additionally, this spacing of theseveral valve-mechanisms allows the maximum space for eachvalve-mechanism.

Having described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a piano, a framework, wires mounted thereon, a keybed, a keyboard,a piano-action including hammers for striking the wires, automaticmechanism for actuating the hammers including pneumatics andvalve-mechanisms for controlling the same, and brackets supported uponsaid keybed and said framework at intervals along the length of thepiano-action, said brackets extending upwardly from the keybed andsupporting both the piano-action and the automatic mechanism above saidkeyboard, substantially as set forth.

2. In a piano, a framework, wires mounted thereon, a keyboard, apiano-action including hammers for striking the wires, automaticmechanism for actuating the hammers including pneumatics andvalve-mechanisms for controlling the same, brackets secured to saidframework at intervals along the length of the piano-action andsupporting the pianoaction above the keyboard, and auxiliary bracketseach secured to one of said brackets and having said automatic mechanismmounted thereon above the keyboard, substantially as set forth.

3. In a piano, a framework, a plate secured thereto, wires mounted onsaid plate, a keybed, a keyboard mounted thereon, a piano-actionincluding hammers actuated by the keys to strike the wires, automaticmechanism for actuating the hammers including pneumatics andvalve-mechanisms for controlling the same, a plurality of brackets eachsecured to said keybed and to said plate, said brackets extendingupwardly from the keybed and having said piano-action mounted thereonabove the keyboard and a plurality of auxiliary brackets each secured toone of said brackets above the keyboard and having said automaticmechanism mounted thereon, substantially as set forth.

it. An operating mechanism for operating a piano both manually andautomatically formed in a single structure and adapted to be mounted ina piano above the keyboard thereof, the same comprising a piano-actionincluding hammers adapted to be individually operated, automaticmechanism including pneumatics and valves therefor, a plurality ofbrackets on which the piano-action is mounted, said brackets beingspaced apart along the length of the piano-action with certain of thebrackets intermediate the ends of the piano-action, and a plurality ofauxiliary brackets each secured to one of said brackets. said auxiliarybrackets having said automatic mechanism secured thereto, substantiallyas set forth.

5. In apiano, a framework and easing, a plate secured to the framework,wires mounted on said plate and extending vertically, a keybed, akeyboard mounted thereon, and a manual piano-action and an automaticplaying mechanism, the latter including pneumatics and valves therefor,combined in a single structure and mounted within the casing of thepiano above the keybed, the means for mounting said structure consistingof a plurality of brackets upon which the piano act-ion is secured,means for securing the brackets upon said plate and said keyboard, saidbrackets be ing spaced apart at intervals along the length of thepiano-action with certain of the brackets intermediate the ends thereof,and auxiliary brackets one secured to each of said brackets and uponwhich said automatic mechanism is mounted, substantially as set forth.

6. An operating mechanism for operating a piano both manually andautomatically, formed in a single structure and adapted to be mounted ina piano above the keyboard thereof, the same comprising a piano-actionincluding hammers adapted to be individually operated, a plurality ofbrackets on which the piano-action is mounted, said brackets beingspaced apart lengthwise of the piano-action and certain of the bracketsbeing intermediate the ends of the pianoaction, and an automatic playingmechanism also mounted on said brackets and including pneumatics spacedapart lengthwise of the pianoaction, valve-mechanisms differently spacedapart lengthwise of the piano-action, and connections between saidpneumatics and valve-mechanisms, substantially as set forth.

7. An operating mechanism for operating a piano both manually andautomatically, formed in a single structure and adapted to be mounted ina piano above the keyboard thereof, the same comprising a piano-actionincluding hammers adapted to be individually operated, a plurality ofbrackets on which the pianoaction is mounted, said brackets being spacedapart lengthwise of the piano-action and certain of the brackets beingintermediate the ends of the pianoaetion, and an automatic playingmechanism also mounted on said brackets and including pneumaticsarranged in groups lengthwise of the piano-action, valvemechanismsarranged at regular intervals lengthwise of the piano-action, andconnections between said pneumatics and valve-mechanisms, substantiallyas set forth.

8. An operating mechanism for operating a piano both manually andautomatically, formed in a single structure and adapted to be mounted ina piano above the keyboard thereof, the same comprising a piano-actionincluding hammers adapted to be individually operated, a plurality ofbrackets on which the piano-action is mounted, said brackets beingspaced apart lengthwise of the piano-action and certain of the bracketsbeing intermediate the ends of the pianoaction, and an automatic playingmechanism also mounted on said brackets and including pneumaticsarranged in groups lengthwise of the pianoaction with spaces between thegroups opposite said brackets, valve-mechanisms for said pneumaticsspaced apart lengthwise of the piano at regular intervals, andconnections between said pneumatics and valve-mechanisms, substantiallyas set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 26th day of February, 1909.

SAMUEL L. DICKINSON.

lVitnesses D. S. EDMONDS, HENRY MEYER.

